How The World Was Created ? This Is What The Buddhists Believe !

20 October 2016 Conscious Mind

The Buddhists do not believe that the world was created, rather it has simply existed forever and continues to recreate itself. Buddhism teachings state that the world is in a constant state of Samsara, meaning the continued repetition of birth and death. 

WHY WAS I BORN?

"Ask yourself, “Why was I born? What can I take with me?” Ask yourselves over and over. If you do, you’ll become wise. If you don’t, you’ll remain ignorant. If you don’t understand it all right now, maybe you will later."

Ajahn Chah (Food for the Heart)

Professor Richard Gombrich

Nirvana is the abolition of passion (which means wanting something very much), the opposite - hatred and confusion. And, if you can completely get rid of those, you no longer want anything so you become - not ‘happy’ as we would call it today, but something closer to attaining complete ‘peace of mind’ - it’s calmness, tranquillity, imperturbability if you like. And nothing will upset you any more. 

Courtesy and Goodwill visit (Ziarah Harmony) to BUBS by Surau Al-Syakirin

On Saturday, 7 January 2017, Bandar Utama Buddhist Sosciety hosted a goodwill visit by the Management of Surau Al-Syakrin and a few Muslim NGO’s. The objective of the visit was to establish good rapport, foster better understanding and goodwill.

As per their request, we shared with them the Lord Buddha’s teaching of doing good, avoid evil and purifying our mind with emphasis of non violence, compassion and development of wisdom. The meeting ended on a positive note. We would like to thank Tuan Haji Muinnudin Bin Mohamed, Chairman of Surau Al- Syakirin for arranging the visit.

Mosque Open Day (Surau Al- Syakirin)

Following the visit, the Mosque invites all to their open day on Sunday,15 January 2017 from 9 am to 1 pm

You cannot buy happiness with money

“You cannot buy happiness with money. You can only find happiness by giving money away.”

Almsround in China. (Xishuangbanna, Yunnan)

June 17, 2016

中國大陸 雲南 西雙版納 法住禪林的比丘尊者們前往村莊托缽集食
入村托缽 Piṇḍapāta in China (Xishuangbanna)

https://www.facebook.com/SantaVihara/videos/118286868597277/

The Vipassanā Battle 《觀之戰》

So we are talking about the Buddha’s advice that sukha cannot be attained with dukkha; sukha can be attained only with sukha. What is your point of view on this?
所以，我們正在討論佛陀的忠告：「以苦不能證得樂， 只有以樂才能證得樂。」諸位對此有何見解？

Who is your teacher?

"Anything which is troubling you, anything which is irritating you, THAT is your teacher." Ajahn Chah

These college students aren’t nodding off. They’re meditating

By Brian MacQuarrie GLOBE STAFF  FEBRUARY 17, 2016Students at the University of Vermont are seen during a mindfulness exercise as part of Professor Jim Hudziak’s Healthy Brains/Healthy Bodies class.

BURLINGTON, Vt. — The University of Vermont has long had a reputation as a party school, perhaps the legacy of work-hard, play-hard students who liked to hit the slopes as well as the books.

But now, led by a medical school professor who totes a brain-shaped football to class, the university is expanding a dormitory program where drugs and alcohol are out and round-the-clock incentives for healthy living are in.The first-year project, called the Wellness Environment, includes 120 freshmen chosen from three times that number of applicants. Because of its popularity, the program will nearly quadruple next academic year and move to a second residence hall.

“If they can get really good health habits now, we’ve done our job,” said Annie Stevens, vice provost for student affairs.

"Catu-pārisuddhisīla"

Catu-pārisuddhisīla is the fourfold classification of purity of sila. They are 1) the restraint of “Patimokkha” including 227 rules of discipline for the monk (Patimokkha samsara sila), 2) the restraint of the sense faculties (indriya samvara sila), 3) the purity of livelihood (ajiva parisuddhi sila), and 4) the use of the four requisites that is purified by reflection (paccaya sannissita sila).

Peel away to transcendence

Female monks barred from paying respects

by Sanitsuda Ekachai, The Bangkok Post, Jan 11, 2017

Bangkok, Thailand -- If you think any Thai can pay respects to the late revered monarch, you will be in for an unpleasant surprise.

A row of female monks (left), after being barred from paying respect to the late monarch, paid respect to the monks who are escorted into the Grand Palace to attend the royal ceremony. (Photo Courtesy Songdammakalyani Monastery)

Gathering of Intentions: A History of a Tibetan Tantra

Posted on 4 January 2017 by Buddhism Now

The Gathering of Intentions reads a single Tibetan Buddhist ritual system through the movements of Tibetan history, revealing the social and material dimensions of an ostensibly timeless tradition. By subjecting tantric practice to historical analysis, the book offers new insight into the origins of Tibetan Buddhism, the formation of its canons, the emergence of new lineages and ceremonies, and modern efforts to revitalize the religion by returning to its mythic origins.

The Buddhist connection of Hajo in Assam

by S Balakrishnan, The Sangai Express, Jan 5, 2017

Assam, India -- Hajo, 24 kms from Guwahati in Assam, a quiet little spot, is said to have connection with Buddhism.

There are various legends associating Hajo with Buddhism. Some claim it to be place where Lord Buddha attained Nirvana and a temple there is believed to contain His relics. Another source says that it could be the last resting place of Guru Rinpoche, Buddhist Guru of Tibetan Buddhism, revered next only to Sakya Muni the Buddha.

A matter of views

Buddha branding is everywhere – but what do Buddhists think?

by Morwenna Ferrier, The Guardian, 8 January 2017

Buddhism is all about restraint and detachment, so no wonder the religion’s philosophy is proving popular at the start of a year in which many already feel anxious

London, UK -- New year, new tenuously legitimate diet rooted in spirituality. The Buddha diet is one of January’s horde. Ostensibly rooted in sensible, restrictive eating, it’s also one of the latest examples of consumer society co-opting asceticism to sell stuff.

<< Buddha Bar … celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Observer

The book Buddha’s Diet is climbing bestseller lists; Buddha bowls, the once left-field food-truck lunches, are coming to Marks & Spencer (branded as nourish bowls); and the 15-strong chain of Buddha Bars has just celebrated its 20th anniversary. Nothing, it seems, is safe from this blasphemous gravy train.

That is not much time left

“We should continuously think like we may one day see a doctor and be diagnosed with a fatal illness with not much time left.”

“…As for us, we should be mindful of death constantly, for if the doctors were to diagnose us with a fatal illness leaving us with no more than three months of life, what would we do? Would we still seek money, possessions, fortune, status, fame, or pleasure through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, or would we seek a refuge for our mind?

Russia's Buddhist Republic

By Bradley Jardine, The Diplomat, January 4, 2017

Kalmykia, Russia -- The journey from Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) to Russia’s southern Republic of Kalmykia – a barren landscape the size of Scotland, wedged between Stavropol and Astrakhan on the coast of the Caspian Sea – is somewhat eerie.

In Russia’s Republic of Kalmykia, the remnants of Buddhism sit in the Soviet Union’s lingering shadow. The Diplomat profile pic

The landscape, once one of Europe’s most fertile, wouldn’t look out of place on Mars after disastrous Soviet agricultural policies earned it the dubious honor of “world’s largest man-made desert” in the 1950s.

What is disastrous ?

Buddhist Ethics Today – or can we all be a little more enlightened?

January 7, 2017 by Justin Whitaker

Seth Zuiho Segall has a lengthy and thoughtful piece in the latest Tricycle Magazine, titled, “A More Enlightened Way of Being.” The topic is ethics, specifically Buddhist ethics in the contemporary world.

Segall’s writing is wide-reaching and wonderfully fluid. He mentions Aristotle, Kant, Hume, Kierkegaard, and other luminaries of the West. He also surveys the long history of Buddhism and its developments and encounters with Bon (Tibet), Daoism (China) and Kami worship (Japan).

Tibetan man with a prayer wheel, Bodhgaya, India (2010, photo by author)

Kindness vs Punishment

Back in 1955, someone dropped a 600 year old plaster Buddha statue only to discover the plaster was actually covering a solid gold statue. Aug 20, 2016 The Vintage News

The golden buddha at Wat Traimit By Kushal Das – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

Officially titled “Phra Phuttha Maha Suwana Patimakon”, The Golden Buddha  is a gold statue, with a weight of 5.5 tons (5,500 kilograms), located in the temple of Wat Traimit, Bangkok, Thailand.The origins of this statue are uncertain.

This practice entails some suffering

The Buddha’s Baggage

Everything you wanted to know about karma but were afraid to ask By Thanissaro Bhikkhu  WINTER 2016 Tricycle

Karma and rebirth are often treated as Buddhism’s cultural baggage: a set of Indian beliefs that—either because the Buddha wasn’t thinking carefully, or because his early followers didn’t stay true to his teachings—got mixed up with the dharma even though they don’t fit in with the rest of what he taught. Now that the dharma has come to the West, it’s time, we believe, to leave all this unnecessary baggage unclaimed on the carousel so we can focus on the Buddha’s true message in a way that will speak directly to our own cultural needs. However, the real problem with karma and rebirth is that we tend to misunderstand what these teachings have to say. This is because Buddhism came to the West at the same time as other Indian religions, and its luggage got mixed up with theirs in transit. When we sort out which luggage really belongs to the tradition, we find that the bags marked “Karma” and “Rebirth” actually contain valuables. And to help show how valuable they are, here are my answers to some frequently asked questions on these topics.

Religion Minister Questioned Over Efforts to Promote Buddhism

by Khy Sovuthy, Cambodia Daily, January 11, 2017 Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- The Minister of Cults and Religion was questioned by a National Assembly commission on Tuesday over efforts to promote Buddhism in the country and an assortment of other concerns affecting the religion, according to the opposition lawmaker who summoned him. Him Chhem appeared before the Assembly’s education, religious affairs and culture commission, chaired by CNRP lawmaker Yem Ponhearith.

An inspirational story

Ajahn Siripanno is a humble Theravada Buddhist monk from Thailand. He is the one and only son of the second richest man in Malaysia, T. Ananda Krishnan who owns businesses worth of US$6.6 billions according to Forbes's 2016 world wealthiest people, and Mom Rachawong Supinda Jakrapan who is a great-grandchild of His Majesty the Late King of Thailand.

Seda Larung Wuming Tibetan Buddhist Institute

The dormitories around the Seda Larung Wuming Tibetan Buddhist Institute—the world’s largest Buddhist academy—houses up to 40,000 nuns and monks. 

Buddhist frat grows as Dharma Bums seek new home

by Gary Warth, San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan 4, 2017 San Diego, CA (USA) -- A Buddhist fraternity that started at San Diego State University in 2015 is getting national attention from other schools and might open a chapter at UC San Diego next year. << Jeff Zlotnik, standing inside the vacant Swedenborgian Church in University Heights, is adviser to a Buddhist fraternity at San Diego State University. The fraternity may expand to other schools, and the Buddhist temple Zlotnik co-founded is in escrow to purchase the church. (Peggy Peattie)